In brief: 'Pokémon Go' 'to run for years,' CEO says

Office workers play Nintendo's "Pokémon Go," developed by Niantic, on Monday outside the HSBC Holdings headquarters in Hong Kong.
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Photo: Anthony Kwan

'Pokémon Go'

Game 'to run for years,' CEO says

SAN DIEGO - The head of the company behind "Pokémon Go" says more capabilities for the wildly popular smartphone game are coming, including the ability to trade Pokémon.

During an appearance at a San Diego Comic-Con event Sunday, Niantic Labs CEO John Hanke said the update to add trading is "at the top of our priority list," but no release date has been set.

Hanke also says future versions of the game could include customizable PokeStops and the addition of other Pokémon characters.

He calls "Pokémon Go" a game "we expect to run for years" and adds "we're going to continue to invest in that way."

INTEROIL

Exxon Mobil'soffer called inadequate

InterOil's Corp.'s founder and third-largest investor said Exxon Mobil Corp.'s $3.6 billion offer for the South Pacific natural gas driller is "vastly inadequate" and he urged the oil giant to sweeten the offer.

Phil Mulacek, who led InterOil from its 1990s inception until he stepped down in 2013, said Monday the bonus Exxon Mobil plans to pay out based on how much gas the Elk-Antelope discovery holds will force InterOil shareholders to "forgo billions of dollars of value."

An Exxon Mobil spokesman declined to comment on Mulacek's remarks.

theaters

AMC improves its offer for rival to $1.2 billion

Chinese-owned theater chain AMC Entertainment has boosted its offer to buy rival Carmike Cinemas, in a move to keep the closely watched deal from falling apart.

Leawood, Kan.-based AMC agreed on Monday to pay $33.06 a share for Columbus, Ga.-headquartered Carmike, a 10 percent increase from what the company offered when it announced the transaction in March.

The new cash-and-stock pact is valued at $1.2 billion, including debt, up from $1.1 billion previously.

clothing

Donna Karan, DKNY brands are being sold

PARIS - French luxury giant LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton is selling its Donna Karan and DKNY clothing brands to U.S. group G-III Apparel in a $650 million deal.

It's a rare sale for LVMH, owner of such brands as Christian Dior, Kenzo and Sephora and a leader in the luxury world. G-III, which owns brands such as Bass shoes and Vilebrequin clothing, is looking to expand its brands.

Donna Karan herself stepped down from her signature collection last year to focus on her Urban Zen company.

The move to shed 200 out of its 770 Gulf employees and contractors, located across the United States, is part of Shell's broader plan to cut 2,200 jobs by the end of the year as it makes room for BG Group, the British gas producer it acquired for $50 billion this year.

It's part of an "ongoing effort to maintain safety, identify efficiencies and increase accountability in our global operations," Shell spokeswoman Kimberly Windon said in a statement. Some of Shell's deep-water Gulf employees may be transferred internally to other areas.

Shell's layoffs add to the 15,000 in job cuts recently announced by Halliburton, Schlumberger, ConocoPhillips and FMC Technologies.

fox news

Two firings not related to Ailes, sources say

NEW YORK - Four days after the ouster of Roger Ailes as Fox News chief, two more executives at the network have been axed.

But the firing of Michael Clemente and his top deputy, Peter Boyer, were not related to the sexual harassment allegations that forced Ailes out at the network that he started two decades ago, two Fox executives said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss personnel issues.

Clemente was executive vice president of news at Fox until April, when he was demoted and put in charge of a new division for specials and long form programming.

in other news

Outerwall, known for its Redbox movie rental kiosks and Coinstar coin counting machines, agreed Monday to be taken private by Apollo Global Management for about $900 million.

Latin America's largest airline has agreed to some $22 million in civil and criminal fines in connection with a scheme to pay bribes to end a labor strike in Argentina a decade ago. Chile-based carrier LATAM will pay $12.75 million to the U.S. Justice Department and $9.4 million including interest to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

The Treasury Department auctioned $37 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.320 percent, unchanged from last week. Another $32 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at 0.425 percent, down from 0.430 percent.

The Federal Reserve said the average yield for one-year Treasury bills rose to 0.55 percent last week from 0.52 percent the previous week.